Coach Urban Meyer promised some shakeups for the shaky Ohio State pass defense in the Orange Bowl against Clemson, and one could be the elevation of freshman safety Vonn Bell to starter.

Bell was the toast of the coaching staff in February when he signed with Ohio State over Tennessee and Alabama. He was back in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tenn., during Christmas break and did an in-studio interview with WRCB-TV in which he indicated he will start in the bowl on Jan. 3, likely taking the place of Corey Brown.

“Coach Meyer and my position coach (Everett Withers), they’ve been on me, they’ve been wanting me to play ever since day one,” Bell said. “But they’ve got to learn to trust a young guy that’s going in, because that’s the system. That’s the part about it, you’ve just got to keep showing them each week. I’ve been showing them each week, and they’re finally giving me the opportunity.”

Bell hasn’t been available for interviews with the Columbus media the past month. But when Meyer was asked last week whether Bell could play more in the bowl, he said, “He’ll play more in this game. … He’s earned it on special teams. And he’s a guy that we’re really excited about his future.”

Jody Shelley’s return to Philadelphia last week as a Blue Jackets broadcaster attracted attention in the media and earned him compliments from his former teammates.

Shelley, 37, played for the Flyers for three years, including last season. He took many of the team’s young players under his wing and earned his reputation as someone who could put the pressures of hockey, its high salaries and everyday life into perspective.

Toronto’s James van Riemsdyk, the second overall draft pick by the Flyers in 2007 and Shelley’s teammate for all three seasons in Philadelphia, knew what Shelley meant to him.

“He was one of the best teammates I’ve ever played with,” van Riemsdyk told the Philadelphia Daily News. “He taught me a lot about how to act like a professional and carry myself.”

Coach Mike Brey acknowledged that Notre Dame knew leading scorer Jerian Grant had committed an academic violation before the Ohio State game in New York on Saturday and that he would be suspended from school on Monday.

Brey declined to discuss timing specifics because of privacy laws, but he told the South Bend (Ind.) Tribune that the team knew it would be Grant’s final game this season. Grant scored 18 points in 38 minutes of the Buckeyes’ 64-61 win.

Brey said he never considered benching Grant because the suspension did not become official until Monday. He said benching Grant would be inconsistent with how the school has handled similar issues.

Former Cleveland Indians slugger Jim Thome told MLB Network that he isn’t ready to announce his retirement as a player, even though he hasn’t appeared in a game since 2012. Thome, seventh on baseball’s career home-run list with 612, worked as a special assistant to the general manager for the Chicago White Sox last season.

Thome, 43, last played for Baltimore in 2012, hitting .257 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 101 at-bats.

Michigan offensive tackle Taylor Lewan offered few details but still defended himself this week against charges made by Ryan Munsch of Columbus that Lewan assaulted him and a friend in an Ann Arbor, Mich., restaurant the night of the Ohio State-Michigan game.

“I’m not going to get into too many details,” Lewan told the Arizona Republic. “I wasn’t in any fight. I didn’t hit anybody. I was really just trying to help out a situation and break up something. I can’t really go into any more details than that.”

Lewan, who is expected to play Saturday in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, said he hasn’t “thought too much about it. … I’m sure the truth will come out, and it’ll all work out.”

Munsch told the Detroit Free Press that Lewan first punched his friend, then punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. He said Lewan then punched him in the ribs. Munsch was taken to a hospital afterward.

There hasn’t been much action on Indians free-agent pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez, which probably isn’t surprising given his asking price — a reported four-year deal for between $17 million and $20 million annually — and the fact that the teams who might be interested are the same ones expected to bid on Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka.

The 30-day window opened yesterday for major-league teams to sign Tanaka, 25, who went 24-0 for the Rakuten Golden Eagles last season. The New York Yankees, Boston, Chicago Cubs, Arizona and Los Angeles Angels were among the favorites to sign Tanaka to a multiyear deal that could top $100 million.

Any team that signs Jimenez will also have to forfeit a first- or second-round pick in the June draft because the Indians made him a one-year, $14.1 million qualifying offer. Jimenez’s inconsistency is probably also a factor, although he went 13-9 with a 3.30 ERA in 32 starts last season.

Cincinnati Reds free agent Bronson Arroyo is another starting pitcher who isn’t getting many bites, and he seems likely to be pursued by many of the same teams as Jimenez once the landscape becomes a little clearer. Arroyo, who will be 37 next month, declined to speculate on where he’s going in an interview with Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com.

“There’s no point in me really thinking about where my perfect place is, because I don’t know who’s interested,” Arroyo said. “It’s like going to a party and the whole premise is to find a wife. There are 10 girls there, and three of them are smoking hot, but they don’t even look in your direction twice, so there’s no point in going after them. Then maybe somebody else comes along who didn’t seem so attractive at first, and you like what she’s saying and you think, ‘Hey, maybe this is the one.’

“I can’t pick and choose teams. They have to choose me, and I realize it could take a long time for them to get where they need to be. I’ve been fine, but if it’s January 15th and I’m still spinning my wheels, I’ll probably change my tune.”

Arroyo also told Crasnick that the Reds have not offered him a one-year deal, as has been reported, and denies that he was close to a deal with Minnesota. Those two teams could ultimately be in the mix, but that will likely depend upon how the market shakes down.

With one regular-season game to play, former Groveport and Michigan State star Le’Veon Bell won the Joe Greene Great Performance Award given to the top Pittsburgh Steelers rookie. The award is voted upon by the Pittsburgh chapter of the Pro Football Writers Association.

Bell missed the first three games of the season, yet needs only 73 yards Sunday against the Cleveland Browns to break Franco Harris’ record for most yards from scrimmage for a Steelers rookie (1,235), a mark that has stood since 1972.